Who We Are
United by creative ideas and a passion to serve the world
Manaal Mulla
Head of Operations / Co - founder
Manaal exudes great passion and desire to give back to the society. Her exceptional leadership skills and go-getter approach have acted as a catalyst in taking the organization to greater heights. She hopes to inspire people to think outside the box and work towards improving the system. With immense experience in dealing with projects and activities, Manaal is Step Up's greatest asset.
Saima Khan
President / Co-founder
From being featured in one of the biggest magazines in the country to making it all the way to the United Nations, Saima Khan clearly manifests the fact that ‘age is just a number’. Being an active member in almost 75 organizations, she is well trained in sign language and spends most of her time volunteering or setting up local and global social projects. She has dedicated her life to changing the world and Step Up is proud to have her as President.
Vishal Menon
Ideation Director
Ideas + Creation = Ideation (in case people didn't get that). Vishal has been passionate about helping people ever since he wore his spider man costume in 5th grade to save his cousin from an ant. When reality dawned on him, Vishal began to find new ways to help save the world and unite people to solve our biggest problems. He was a part of major global organizations such as Best Buddies and the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme.
Our Projects
Diversity and Innovation
Winter Break Party
"It was absolutely enlightening to work with such amazing kids and organize a wonderful party." - Mohiz Raza
Step Up held it's first Winter Break Party for Manzil Special Needs Centre, Sharjah. We are proud to The event started off with performances of solo dances, songs & instruments followed by games. The event had several niches like sand & faces painting, henna designing, puzzle corner, packing of gift bags and cupcake & brownie decorations. Creating memories for the kids was heart-warming and we hope to go back soon.
Beach Clean Up
"It's alarming to know that not only are people so careless in disposing waste, but the number of smokers in Dubai are far too high!" - Manaal Mulla
A group of active volunteers woke up early in the morning for the Beach Clean Up. They were divided in groups of 4 & a mini-competition was held a the Mamzar Beach to see which group collects the largest number of cigarette butts. Surprisingly, the volunteers found thousands of cigarette buds. It goes to show the irresponsibility of people while discarding wastes. Our amazing volunteers gave up a weekend morning for this project for which we are immensely grateful.
Bake for a cause
"It's been very fun working with special needs and enhancing their baking skills, I never thought something this small could make a gigantic difference in the society. " - Alexa Morrison
The 'Bake for a Cause' is a social intiative by Step Up to unleash the awesome creativity of special needs, youth and adults. We sell fresh baked items at reasonable prices to customers in order to collect money for various causes such as Breast Cancer Awareness, Autism etc. It's a great feeling to see everyone bake small cupcakes and brownies and come together for a common cause.
Protect Your Mom Campaign
"Amazing and a beautiful project through out!" - Saima Khan
Step Up partnered with PYM to generate creative ways in order to raise awareness for breast cancer. We hosted an online initiative called “Break the Myth” wherein people were asked to send in photos of them in pink holding up a quote about Breast Cancer. We received a large number of entries in which the best ones were put up on the PYM page.
Thirst Relief International - PennyAppeal
"Collaborating with International Organizations to foster change is always a great experience." - Manaal Mulla
PennyAppeal is a UK based charity organisation with over twenty different international projects. Step Up coordinated with several other registered charity organisations or commercial companies to raise funds for the 'Thirst Relief International' project to build tube wells in poverty or disaster stricken countries. We are proud to have built one well in Nepal and another in India!
Du Ramadan Food Distribution Project
''This was our first event as a Step Up team and I enjoyed it thoroughly. We walked in with the motive to do as much as we can for the labourers to ensure that this Ramadan will be the best one for them and it turned out to be a successful event'' - Saima Khan
“By collaborating with Think Up, Du invited volunteers by giving them an opportunity to help provide meals to underprivileged people who are fasting with an aim to encourage youth to become more aware of social problems and take the step into solving them. With the help of a few volunteers, the members of Step Up had managed to pack huge boxes of daily requirement food items such as Oil, Flour, Sugar, Rice, and so on.”
Gratitude Day
"I participated for the Gratitude Day event and it was probably one of the best things that ever happened. The people we met felt so overjoyed, they almost immediately opened up to us and it made me realize that not everyone's having a jolly-good time, and that I should at least do what I can to help change that fact." - Afreen Akbar
The whole idea is to recognize the unsung heroes that smoothen the bumpy roads of our lives. It is held by forming groups of 5 or 6. Each of those groups are given gifts that they are required to hand out to the store employees they are assigned to. It is made to seem like a competition to simply encourage and rile up the participants, but in the end of the day, everyone is a winner. Earning a smile is far more satisfying than any prize, be it cash, a medal or a trophy.
Give a Ghaf
''We girls together planted a seed in our names and in this way we contributed for a greener environment. This youth group is really wonderful as all members are friendly. We youth together want to make a difference.''- Meghana Fessy
Step Up took part in the 'Give a Ghaf' program wherein the volunteers planted seeds in bag pots with their name tag. The pride and happiness in seeing our name is immeasurable. This was the first ever green event for STEP UP. We hope to conduct similar events in the future, giving more people the opportunity to make a difference in small ways.
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